Refrigerating apparatus



Dec. 9, 1941. I N. J. SMITH 2,265,497

REFREIIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed March 29, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

1941- N. J. SMITH REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed March 29, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

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Dec. 9, 1941. N. J. SMITH 2,265,497

I REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Ori ginal F iled March 29, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INIYENTOR.

mwqw ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 9, 1941 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Nelson J. Smith, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Original application March 29, 1935, Serial No. 13,710. Divided and this application August 29, 1938, Serial No. 227,348

3 Claims. (Cl. 98-94) This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to a refrigerating apparatus adapted to provide conditioned air within an enclosure.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 13,710 filed March 29, 1935, now Patent No. 2,151,995.

It is an object of this invention to provide a unitary structure which may be located within a space to be air conditioned and which will perform the functions of cooling, dehumidifying, cleaning and circulating the air within the enclosure in warm weather and will perform the functions of heating, humidifying, cleaning and circulating air within an enclosure in cold weather, and in addition will provide for the introduction of selectively variable amounts of fresh air to the enclosure in either warm or cold weather.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a refrigerating apparatus embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the device illustrated in Fig. 1, a portion of the apparatus being broken away; and

Fig. 4 'is an isometric view showing the exterior of the cabinet shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 comprises generally a rectangular casing enclosing a refrlgerant liquefying unit generally designated as l0, and an air treating unit generally designated as l2. Both units are mounted upon a generally rectangular frame l4 within a casing IS. The unit is adapted to be supported upon the floor of an enclosure to be air conditioned and adjacent one of the side walls thereof, preferably near a window.

The refrigerant liquefying unit I is enclosed within an insulated chamber l8 having insulating walls 20 surrounding the same to prevent the conduction of both heat and noise from the compartment it to the enclosure to be air conditioned. The refrigerant liquefying unit is mounted upon a frame 22 supported upon the main frame I4 and includes a motor 24, a compressor 26, a condenser 28, receiver 30 and a heat exchanger 32 for cooling the compartment Ill. The compressor 26 is driven by the motor 24 through pulleys 34 and 36 and belts 38. A fan 40 located on the motor shaft circulates the air within the compartment l8 over for air to be treated formed by the walls of the casing l6, the wall 52 (see Fig. 2) and the common wall 39 between the units In and I2. The air treating duct 4| has two inlets, one of which is formed by the grille 42 for the ingress of recirculated air from the enclosure to be air conditioned and the, other of which is situated at the window 44. A sheet metal elbow 46 is arranged to pass through an opening 45 in the top of the casing I6 at the rear thereof and may be vertically adJusted to correspond to the height of the sill of the window 44. The rearwardly facing opening of the elbow 46 carries an adjustable sleeve 48 which is movable toward and away from the rear face of the unit so that it may be brought in contact with the window 44. A pad 50 of felt is secured to the sleeve 48 to insure air tight contact between the sleeve 48 'and the sash of the window 44. The downwardly facing opening of the elbow 46 communicates with a duct 41 formed between the rear wall of the casing l6 and an intermediat sheet metal wall 52 which terminates in an opening 54 leading into the air treating duct 4|. placeable filter screen 51 of any suitable construction is positioned diagonally in the duct 41 between the sleeve 46 and the opening 54. A drip pan 56 is positioned in the casing to form the bottom of the duct 4| and the top of the duct 58 which extends from the grille 42 to the motor 64 which drives a. pair of blowers 66 at either end thereof having their inlets 68 opening into the duct 4| and their outlets discharging through openings 69 provided in the top wall of the casing l6. A h'umidifying device is also provided in the duct 4| comprising a control manifold 10 which is connected to a water distrilzuting head 12 which overlies the heating coil 6 As explained hereinabove, the elbow 46 constitutes one portion of the outside air intake duct system, and as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the drawings the upper surface of elbow 46 is a flat surface which is arranged in a plane substantially parallel to the top wall of the cabinet..

At the right hand end of the device as viewed in Fig. 1, a chamber 14 is provided within which are located the control devices for the air conditioning unit. The end wall of the casing l6 A re-- near the bottom I2. I16, I18 and I80, each of which is out of comis provided with a control panel I6 (see Fig. 3) having located thereon all of the handles by which the various control devices are actuated.

Thus, the knob I8 is, connected by means of a lever and link connection to the temperature responsive element 82 positioned within the duct 58 which controls the admission of heating fluid to the coil 62 through the valve 84. The

1 knob 86 which is reciprocable in a slot 88 controls through the medium of a link 90 a damper 1 92 which is adapted to swing in the opening 54.

Th electrical controls for the apparatus are mounted within the casings 94 and 96 and are f driven by the motor 24 to withdraw gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 60 and to deliver compressed refrigerant to the condenser. 28 where it is liquefied by the cooling water supplied through the conduit H2 and subsequently coliected in the receiver 30. Whenever the solenoid valve I06 is open, liquid refrigerant is delivered to the expansion valve I08 where it is expanded-into the evaporator 60 to reduce the temperature thereof in a well known manner. The fan 40 circulates the air within the compartment I8 over the heat exchanger 32 to withdraw the heat of the motor and the heat of the compressor from the air in the compartment I8. The blowers 66 cause the withdrawal of air into the ducts 41 and 58 through the opening 54 and the distributing head I2 to completely cover or wet the surface of the coil 62 immediately below that portion of the head I2 to which water is delivered. Any greater opening of the valve will merely increase th amount of water which flows over that portion of the heater coil 62 without increasing the amount of wetted surface thereof. Inasmuch as the rate of humidiflcation is dependent upon the amount of wettedsurface, it will be seen that the provision of separately controllable distributors for different portions of the surface of the coil 62 provides a reliable means for varying the rate of humidiflcation of the air passing over the coil 62. The drip pan 56 collects the surplus water delivered from the distributing head I2 and delivers it to the drain during winter operation, while during summer operation, the cooling coil 60 collects water of condensation from the air being cooled thereby which is also collected in the drip pan' 56 and delivered to the drain.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to beunderstood that other through the duct 4| where the air is cooled by the evaporator 60 or heated by the heating coil 62 depending upon which one of them is in operation' and delivers the treated air through the outlets in the top of the casing I6.

During winter operation,-humidification of the air being conditioned is desirable and is provided by means of the water distributing head The head I2 is divided into three sections munication with the other except through the manifold. I0.

I86 lead from the manifold I0 to the separate portions of the head I2. Individual valves I88,

" I90 and I92 control the admission of water from the conduit II2 to the conduits I82, I84 and I86 respectively. Thus, if a small amount of humidification is desired, only one of the valves in the 1 manifold will be opened, thus delivering water i to only one-third of the distributing head 12. The humidifying water is, therefore, distributed over only a small portion of 'the heating coil 62 and the amount of moisture added to the air passing to the-conduit H is limited. If more humidiflcation is desired, two or three of I the valves in the manifold I0 may be opened, thus increasing the area on the coil 62 over which humidifying water is distributed. It will be understood that very little control over the rate of humidiflcation may be obtained by varying the amount of opening of any one of the valves in the manifold I0. This is due to the fact that substantially the smallest practical opening of any one of the valves admits enough water to Separate conduits I82, I84 and r forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

'What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination with an air conditioning cabinet having a plurality of side walls and a top wall, means for introducing air into said cabinet comprising a vertically adjustable elbow member having a vertical portion projecting through the top of said cabinet within the confines of said walls and having a horizontal portion extending rearwardly from said cabinet, said horizontal portion having a substantially flat upper' surface arranged substantially parallel to the upper surface of said top wall, means for cooling at least a portionof the air circulated through said cabinet, said last named means comprising an evaporator, and means for supplying refrigerant to said evaporator.

2. In combination with an air conditioning. cabinet having a plurality of side walls and atop wall, means for introducing air into said cabinet comprising a vertically adjustable elbow member having a vertical portion projecting through the top of said cabinet withinthe confines of said walls and having a horizontal portion extending rearwardly from said cabinet, said horizontal portion having a substantially fiat upper surface arranged substantially parallel to the upper surface of said top wall.

3. In combination with an air conditioning cabinet having a plurality of side walls and a top wall, means for introducing air into said cabinet comprising a vertically adjustable elbow member having a vertical portion projecting through the top of said cabinet within the confines of said walls and having a horizontal portion extending rearwardly from said cabinet, said horizontalportion comprising telescopically engaging portions, said horizontal portion having a substantially flat upper surface arranged substantially parallel to the upper surface of said top wall, means for cooling at least a portion of the air circulated through said cabinet, said last named means comprising an evaporator, and means for supplying, refrigerant to said evaporator.

NELSON J. SMITH. 

